'To play off' definitions:
Definition of 'To play off'
From: GCIDE
- Play \Play\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Played; p. pr. & vb. n. Playing.] [OE. pleien, AS. plegian, plegan, to play, akin to plega play, game, quick motion, and probably to OS. plegan to promise, pledge, D. plegen to care for, attend to, be wont, G. pflegen; of unknown origin. [root]28. Cf. Plight, n.]
- 1. To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot. [1913 Webster]
- As Cannace was playing in her walk. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play! --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- And some, the darlings of their Lord, Play smiling with the flame and sword. --Keble. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless. [1913 Webster]
- "Nay," quod this monk, "I have no lust to pleye." --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Men are apt to play with their healths. --Sir W. Temple. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute. [1913 Webster]
- One that . . . can play well on an instrument. --Ezek. xxxiii. 32. [1913 Webster]
- Play, my friend, and charm the charmer. --Granville. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To act; to behave; to practice deception. [1913 Webster]
- His mother played false with a smith. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 6. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays. [1913 Webster]
- The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play. --Cheyne. [1913 Webster]
- 7. To move gayly; to wanton; to disport. [1913 Webster]
- Even as the waving sedges play with wind. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- The setting sun Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- All fame is foreign but of true desert, Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- 8. To act on the stage; to personate a character. [1913 Webster]
- A lord will hear your play to-night. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Courts are theaters where some men play. --Donne. [1913 Webster]
- To play into a person's hands, to act, or to manage matters, to his advantage or benefit.
- To play off, to affect; to feign; to practice artifice.
- To play upon. (a) To make sport of; to deceive. [1913 Webster]
- Art thou alive? Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll expression or application to; as, to play upon words. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'To play off'
From: GCIDE
- Play \Play\, v. t.
- 1. To put in action or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump. [1913 Webster]
- First Peace and Silence all disputes control, Then Order plays the soul. --Herbert. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To perform music upon; as, to play the flute or the organ. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To perform, as a piece of music, on an instrument; as, to play a waltz on the violin. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute; as, to play tricks. [1913 Webster]
- Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will Her virgin fancies. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To act or perform (a play); to represent in music action; as, to play a comedy; also, to act in the character of; to represent by acting; to simulate; to behave like; as, to play King Lear; to play the woman. [1913 Webster]
- Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
- 6. To engage in, or go together with, as a contest for amusement or for a wager or prize; as, to play a game at baseball. [1913 Webster]
- 7. To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it. [1913 Webster]
- To play hob, to play the part of a mischievous spirit; to work mischief.
- To play off, to display; to show; to put in exercise; as, to play off tricks.
- To play one's cards, to manage one's means or opportunities; to contrive.
- Played out, tired out; exhausted; at the end of one's resources. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
Words containing 'To play off'
- Play,
- Played,
- Played out,
- Playful,
- Playfully,
- Playfulness,
- Playing,
- in play,
- out of play,
- play down,
- play off,
- play on,
- play out,
- play up,
- play up to,
- Boy's play,
- Child's play,
- Cudgel play,
- Double play,
- Edge play,
- End play,
- Fair Play,
- Match play,
- Medal play,
- Miracle play,
- Moral play,
- Passion play,
- Play actor,
- Play debt,
- Play of colors,
- Play pleasure,
- Playing card,
- Playing cards,
- Puppet play,
- To bring into play,
- To come into play,
- To cut a play,
- To hold in play,
- To mount a play,
- To play booty,
- To play devil with,
- To play dummy,
- To play for love,
- To play hob,
- To play possum,
- To play rex,
- To play the fool,
- To play the mischief,
- To play truant,
- To play upon,
- Wake play,
- baseball play,
- basketball play,
- carillon playing,
- dramatic play,
- draw play,
- football play,
- force play,
- foul play,
- morality play,
- mystery play,
- passing play,
- period of play,
- play a joke on,
- play a trick on,
- play along,
- play around,
- play around with,
- play back,
- play ball,
- play by ear,
- play dumb,
- play false,
- play group,
- play havoc with,
- play hooky,
- play it by ear,
- play list,
- play on words,
- play possum,
- play reading,
- play safe,
- play the game,
- play the market,
- play therapy,
- play tricks,
- play with fire,
- playing area,
- playing field,
- playing period,
- power play,
- running play,
- satyr play,
- shadow play,
- squeeze play,
- stroke play,
- trap play,
- triple play,
- word play,
- A play upon words,
- Fair Play, MO,
- To play at ducks and drakes,
- To play first fiddle,
- To play into a person's hands,
- To play one's cards,
- To play second fiddle,
- card-playing,
- long-play,
- long-playing,
- play-actor,
- play-box,
- safety squeeze play,
- suicide squeeze play,
- To play one's cards well,
- To play pitch and toss with anything,
- To play snow one's cards